Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of non-road traffic workplace accident claims that will be affected by the increase to the small claims limit.

The Government’s reform to increase the small claims limit for employers and public liability claims to £2,000 is in line with inflation, consistent with the way that increases to the Judicial College Guidelines are calculated. The increase will lead to a similar breadth of non-road traffic claims being affected as were when the limit was set at £1,000 in 1991.

This issue was debated in depth in both Houses during the passage of the Civil Liability Act 2018, and further information is also available in the Government’s consultation response which outlines its assessment and decision on this issue at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-the-soft-tissue-injury-whiplash-claims-process .